Soon after coming out as gay, a Mormon friend asked Andrew, “So when are you leaving the church?” But Andrew knows that both his orientation and his testimony are core parts of his identity. Accepting his sexuality has been a hard journey for Andrew, who always saw himself as a devout Mormon and feared God would love him less if he couldn’t follow the path that the Church had laid out for him. After admitting to himself that he was gay, Andrew felt lost and attempted to commit suicide several times. Life became better for Andrew when he found friends who could accept that he was gay and that he had a testimony of the gospel. Today, Andrew believes God has a plan for him, even though that plan may not look like the path the Church laid out for him. Ultimately he believes that God wants him to lift up others and make the world a better place. Because of all his experiences, Andrew feels he will never turn away from the love of his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and as much as he’s tried, he also will never stop being gay.

(The views expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect those of the producers of Far Between but are reflective of some aspects of what it means to be LGBT and Mormon today.)